The focus of these startups ranges widely—from theft to warranties to personalization—and founders come from as near as Minneapolis and as far as Belgium. While in Minneapolis, the startups will have access to a range of mentors who will provide feedback, answer questions and offer advice to foster the startups’ growth and development.”

More than 150 mentors have once again signed up to mentor this year’s group. This will be our second class to run through the program and we’re planning to build upon the success of last year. Our 2016 Techstars Retail class’ collective fundraise was one of the largest by any Techstars class within the first year. It included mobile enterprise staffing and scheduling tool Branch that is now running a pilot in select distribution and call centers and 130 Target stores. It also featured Inspectorio, a platform for inspecting manufacturer quality assurance that raised a $3.7M seed funding round from Target and have begun operating globally with Target and other global retailers.

Techstars is the Worldwide Network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, and strong partners and mentors help make this happen. Target continues to be an incredible partner for our Techstars Retail program and we hope to build upon the amazing success of our class last year.

We love this city and know 2017 is going to be an amazing year for Techstars, Target and the Twin Cities Startup Community! Here are the 10 Startups participating in the 2017 Techstars Retail Accelerator:

Air Tailor – New York City, NY – provides expert alteration and repair services for consumers and retailers.

Kokko – San Francisco, CA – is a personalized cosmetic and beauty shopping experience based on color science.

Local Crate – Minneapolis, MN – is the first nationally, local food company by making it easy to cook meals inspired by popular local chefs with seasonal, local ingredients in the comfort of your home.